Only in L.A.

Paintin' the town: Patio Industries has a line of stucco paints with names ranging from "Desert Breeze" and "Margarita" to "Day in L.A."

And what hue is "Day in L.A.?" (as if we didn't know)?

"It's sort of a smoggy, cloudy gray," owner Randy Humphreys said with a laugh. Patio Industries, we should add, is based in the San Bernardino County burg of Ontario, which ain't exactly Monterey when it comes to air quality. (Ontario, Canada, we might excuse.)

Humphreys disclosed that he and some of his salesman created the name "while we were sitting around and drinking at dinner. We wanted to come up with something unusual."

"Day in L.A." is a popular tone, he added, noting: "Our customers in Northern California find it amusing."

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Who says real estate isn't moving in Southern California? While perusing a monthly real estate publication, Edward Conklin noticed that a Lawndale home that appeared in one issue had migrated a few miles west by the time the next issue came out (see photo). And it had jumped in price by nearly $100,000. The cost of moving expenses, perhaps.

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Ancient ruins of L.A.: Once it swarmed with briefcase-carriers, but all that's left of the California State Building (1932-1976) on 1st Street are some crumbling stairways and foundations. Several years ago, two billboards sprouted up, announcing that a huge office complex would rise there. The billboards bore the names of the project's local political backers, many of whom have since left office or, in some cases, died.

So imagine the excitement of the neighbors when a new structure was sighted on the grounds the other day. It turned out to be a movie prop.

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High school confidential: A few minutes after a famous Benedict Canyon resident had been arraigned, a dozen students from John Marshall High filed into the spectator section of the Downtown courtroom.

Eighty Foothill Transit bus drivers will be slaloming through Arcadia on Sunday, but no SigAlerts will be issued. The drivers will be in the parking lot of the Santa Anita Racetrack, demonstrating their skills in a regional Bus Roadeo. The winners will be eligible to compete in the National Roadeo next month in New Orleans.